Article by the Prime Minister regarding NAPLAN
FOI Contact Person
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
PO Box 6500
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear FOI Person,
Request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
In re: An article by the Prime Minister in the Australian newspaper
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The name of the Prime Minister appeared on the byline of an article (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national...) published with the headline "Disadvantage still exists" in the morning edition of the Australian newspaper of Monday, 9 April 2012. The article was an invited opinion-piece.
I request a copy of the documents relevant to the correspondence between the newspaper and the PM, or between the newspaper and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet more generally, relating to the invitation to the PM to write the article. I particularly request a copy of: (i) the initial invitation, to whomever it was addressed, (ii) a copy of the final acceptance or agreement by the PM to write the article.
Yours faithfully,
Mark R. Diamond
FOI/2013/061
Dear Mr Diamond
Thank you for your email of 13 June 2013 received by the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) in which you made a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 in the following terms:
The name of the Prime Minister appeared on the byline of an article
([1]http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national...)
published with the headline "Disadvantage still exists" in the morning
edition of the Australian newspaper of Monday, 9 April 2012. The article
was an invited opinion-piece.
I request a copy of the documents relevant to the correspondence between
[The Australian] newspaper and the PM, or between the newspaper and the
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet more generally, relating to the
invitation to the PM to write the article. I particularly request a copy
of: (i) the initial invitation, to whomever it was addressed, (ii) a copy
of the final acceptance or agreement by the PM to write the article.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
The statutory timeframe for processing a request is 30 days from the date
upon which your application was received by the Department except in
certain circumstances in which case we will notify you of the time
extension.
Removal of officer’s details
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the names and contact details of
junior officers within the Department and other agencies contained within
documents that fall within scope of the request. The names and details of
senior departmental staff would not be withheld unless there were some
reason for that information to be exempt from release. If you require the
names and contact details of junior officers please let us know at
[2][DPMC request email] for the decision-maker to consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.
Publication of documents
In accordance with the Government’s pro-disclosure policy agencies are
required to publish information which has been released under FOI on the
agencies’ disclosure logs. If you wish to raise any objections to the
publication of any of the documents which may be released to you please
contact the Department by email at [3][DPMC request email]. Supporting reasons
for any objection would be appreciated.
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay charges, we will forward a preliminary assessment of
charges to you as soon as possible.
The Department will write again when we have further information.
Otherwise, further information on FOI processing can be found at the
website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [5][DPMC request email]
[6]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[DPMC request email]
FOI Contact Person
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
PO Box 6500
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear FOI Officer,
Your reference: FOI/2013/061
In re: An article by the Prime Minister in the Weekend Australian
---------------------------------------------------------------
I am writing withdraw my request of 13 June 2013 in light of the information that your office provided in relation to my other request (http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/in...). In particular, the range of terms that you used to search your database of correspondence in an effort to satisfy my other request seem to preclude your office from holding documents that are relevant to this one.
If you have the time, I would very much appreciate your suggestions as to who I might best approach for the documents, whether it be the Office of the Prime Minister, or the personal office of the Hon Julia Gillard, MP. I do not know, for example, whether the documents of a former prime minister remain with the Office of the Prime Minister when that office is vacated, or whether they accompany the person.
Yours faithfully,
Mark R. Diamond
Dear Mr Diamond
I refer to our telephone discussion and your email of 2 July 2013, above.
I am writing to confirm that request FOI/2013/061 has been withdrawn and
is now considered finalised.
If you have any further queries in relation to your FOI request, you may
contact me by email at [1][email address] or by telephone on
(02) 6271 5849.
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [2][DPMC request email]
[3]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]